Leopard portrait

[Chris van Rooyen]

This is the same individual which I posted last week, taken a few moments later. The dull overcast light was enhanced with a spotlight. In retrospect I could have closed the lens further down for more DOF. The 200 s/s was unintentional, I must have rolled the dial by mistake. I have toned down the reds in the spotlight a bit for a more natural look. Processed in LR and PS CC. Noise removed with Neat Image. Comments and critiques welcome

Camera Model: NIKON D5
Date/Time: 2019:02:13 05:46:42
Shutter speed: 1/200 sec
Aperture: 4
Exposure mode: Manual
Exposure compensation: +1/3
ISO: 4000
Lens: 300.0 mm f/2.8
Focal length: 300mm

[John Mack]

The details and open mouth are very nice. Wish the leopard was just a hair more to the left to get that spot light on the right eye. Must have been quite close if this is full frame.

[haseeb badar]

I really liked this one Chris, the gaping mouth , eyes, and spot light effect works for me. The details definitely could have been better but for the ss.

Liked this one better than the previous post of this subject.

keep them coming , really enjoying your work.

TFS !

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Chris ... lovely eyes , stunning look up of the leopard and the open jaw is looking great .
Without reading your intro .... i would have thought well the colors are looking a we bit pushed , for sure a matter of taste . Having the overcast scenery in mind .... colors are looking way too pushed IMHO , but again matter of taste and for sure you are the artist and this might be your interpretation .
IQ has suffered for me due to the techs ....
I think you can push the D5 on the ISO front to gain more DOF and SS ......

TFS Andreas

[Jonathan Ashton]

I like the image. it is well detailed and sharp, the colours look a little dense particularly the blacks, the green background does not look quite right to me - have you made significant changes to colour or contrast??

[Chris van Rooyen]

Hi guys, thanks for everyone who has commented on the image, appreciated. Herewith a re-post in which I tried to address the criticisms, especially as far as the colours go. Having looked at the re-post, I think the original is too saturated. I have toned down the colours and removed some of the blues. I also removed more noise from the background. For me, this works better. If you can find the time to comment, it will be highly appreciated!

[Jonathan Ashton]

Chris I prefer the repost, I have an alternative for your consideration, but I think perhaps it does not quite capture the atmosphere you intended to portray (?)

[Chris van Rooyen]

Very similar to my re-post I would think, thanks for making the time to do this. I guess a lot eventually hinges on individual tastes - some might like it a bit more dramatic, others prefer a more natural look. The natural look is probably the "safer" route.